Life and Other Consequences
by storieshrj
Summary: This is it people! The sequel to Rabbit! Summary of Rabbit (to refresh your memory): SPOILER ALERT FOR THE FIC RABBIT! Set one year after Holly has left Spine standing in the Walter driveway after choosing Nathaniel over him, and Paige's tragic death, the Walter manor hasn't been the same. After her suicide attempt Wanda has become much more frail and nervous, in the wake of all


_One year after Paige's death..._

"Hold still!" Lil' Steve shouts, chasing Lil' Mike down the hallway, attempting to aim his bow as he runs.

Lil' Mike skids around a corner and bolts into a nearby room. Seeing Steve he runs for cover behind the man's ankle as Lil' Steve comes sliding through the doorway after him.

Steve looks down at the dolls with confusion before leaning down, scooping Lil' Mike into the palm of his hand, and lifting him out of the reach of Lil' Steve's arrows. "What's going on here?"

Lil' Mike Mike holds onto Steve's hand as though he would fall if he let go.

"I'm gonna kill him!" Lil' Steve shouts, only resulting in Lil' Mike gripping tighter.

"You're not killing anyone." Steve says firmly, as he reaches down and plucks the bow and arrows from his hands with ease.

"Fine. I'll just use headbutts instead!" Lil' Steve shouts up to the terrified Lil' Mike.

"I don't know what I did to make you hate me hate me so much!"

Steve leans down with a sigh, picking up Lil' Steve in his other hand, careful to keep them apart.

"You know exactly what you did!" Lil' Steve shouts, headbutting Steve's hand in an attempt to make him let go.

Lil' Mike squirms in Steve's grip before jumping to the ground with a small yelp and running out of the room. Lil Steve is soon to follow, with cries of "Get back here so I can headbutt you!"

Steve stands bewildered for a moment then shakes his head and goes back to work on his new soundboard, figuring they could work out their problems for themselves.

Brianna stops short at the end of a hallway as Lil' Mike raced by with Lil' Steve in pursuit. "What in the world?" She asks quietly to herself.

"It appears that lil' Steve is trying to kill Lil' Mike again." The deep voice of The Spine sounds from behind her.

Brianna jumps slightly at the sound, for such a large automaton he is surprisingly quiet. She turns to see The Spine casually leaning against the wall. "Spine, you scared me."

The Spine's posture stiffens automatically, immediately apologetic. "Forgive me, Miss Brianna, that wasn't my intention."

Brianna looks at him with a tinge of annoyance. "How many times do I have to tell you to drop the 'miss'? You've known me for three years now."

"Okay then, _Brianna_," He emphasises her name purposefully, giving a slight smirk. "I'd like to ask for your assistance with something." He extends a jacket clad arm to her. "If you would follow me to the Hall of Wires..."

She takes his arm with a raised eyebrow, The Spine is rarely so secretive as this. Her worry and confusion grow as he locks the door behind them. "Spine... What's going on?" She asks cautiously.

The Spine turns to look at her with a slight look of bemusement. "I wanted us to have some privacy, now I'd like to ask you for some help with something, that is, if you don't mind."

"Of course." She answers automatically. "What do you need?"

"Well, its been over a year since I've actually... gone out. If you know what I mean." He says nervously. Brianna nods slowly and he continues, "and I think I'm ready to try again, and I was wondering Brianna, if you..."

Her breath catches in her throat for a moment as she watches him, fighting off a wide smile as her heart races in her chest. 'This is it,' she thinks, 'he's finally going to ask me, he finally realized how I feel.'

"... would mind helping me figure out what I've been doing wrong. I want to establish a functioning relationship, and you know me better than most, outside of my brothers of course." He smiles at her, meaning it as a compliment.

Her heart falls as quickly as it soars, shattering to pieces within her chest. Her shoulders slump slightly as she forces a small smile. "Of course I can, we'll start tomorrow." Her phone conveniently chimes to alert her of a message. She pulls it out of her pocket, looking at the screen, a message from a friend asking if she had time to hang out tomorrow. "Right now I have to go find Rabbit, he's gotten himself into trouble again, nothing I can't handle." She scurries out of the room before he can say otherwise, unlocking the door as quickly as she can before running off to her room.

When she gets to her room she sits down on the edge of her bed with a soft sigh. She reaches up and wipes away a few small tears with a gloved hand. Brianna's eyes fall on the slightly open drawer of her nightstand, and she reaches in to find the familiar photograph. She looks down at it with a soft smile, fresh tears welling in her eyes. "You always knew what to say.." She whispers softly to the photograph, Paige's brown eyes looking up at her unblinkingly. "We all miss you still, the manor isn't the same without you..." She glances up to see Paige's bed, still empty and perfectly made after a year, untouched and unused. No one had dared venture to suggest a replacement, not even the now frail Wanda. She gives a soft sigh, placing the photo back in the drawer face down, closing it and going off to find Rabbit knowing he had to have gotten himself into trouble by now.

Michael and Matt sit in one of the rehearsal rooms, mindlessly working out the basic notes of a new song. As they finish their first iteration of the music, Matt looks up at Michael with a slight smile, then a frown as he speaks up. "Hey Michael?"

Michael looks up at him as he sets down the guitar. "Yeah?"

"Why do you have two shadows?" He asks in confusion.

Michael looks behind him, surprised to see he has two shadows before giving a soft shrug. "I don't know, why do you have..." He takes a moment, counting. "Seven?"

Before Matt can respond Rabbit comes into the room, carrying his hat in hand, whistling almost like an owner trying to call their dog back. "C-c-come on, let's get you all home." He calls to the extra shadows. He goes behind Matt, plucking one of the extra shadows from the wall, and dropping it into his hat. He looks at the humans for a moment giving them a small nod as he herds out the extra shadows. "Mr. R-r-reed, Matt..." He acknowledges as he goes.

Matt raises an eyebrow at Michael, "What was that?"

Michael gives a shrug. "Rabbit's doing something strange, must be Tuesday." He shakes his head slightly before picking up his guitar again. "Try it again from the top?"

Matt forces himself to relax slightly, still not used to the manor. "Yeah, let's try it again."


End file.
